FBI Director Kash Patel has warned crypto scammers that the bureau will pursue fraud networks targeting Americans, escalating the agency’s public stance after another year of heavy digital-as
FBI Director Kash Patel has warned crypto scammers that the bureau will pursue fraud networks targeting Americans, escalating the agency’s public stance after another year of heavy digital-asset losses.
Patel wrote on X that crypto fraudsters have taken advantage of Americans for too long, adding: “No more! This FBI will find you, and we will bring you to justice.” The post was tied to a video on crypto fraud, pig-butchering scams and the pressure these networks place on victims before moving money through digital assets.
The warning comes after the FBI’s 2025 Internet Crime Report placed crypto-related complaints among the costliest categories of online crime. Americans filed 181,565 cryptocurrency-related complaints in 2025, with losses topping $11 billion. Total cyber-enabled crime losses reported to IC3 exceeded $20 billion.
Patel’s message focused on the relationship-driven investment scams often known as pig butchering. These schemes usually begin through texts, dating apps, social media or messaging platforms, where scammers build trust before steering victims toward fake crypto investment platforms.
Once victims believe they are earning profits, the platforms demand more deposits, withdrawal fees, taxes or verification payments. By the time the scam collapses, funds have often moved through wallets, exchanges, stablecoins, cash couriers or crypto kiosks.
The FBI said Operation Level Up, launched in 2024, has already identified and notified more than 8,000 victims actively falling into crypto investment fraud and reduced losses by more than $500 million. The bureau’s scam data also shows older Americans remain heavily exposed, with people over 60 reporting about $7.7 billion in 2025 losses across internet-crime categories.
Crypto fraud is no longer limited to fake trading dashboards and wallet transfers. IC3 data shows that cryptocurrency kiosk complaints rose again in 2025, with more than 13,400 complaints and losses above $388 million. More than half of those complaints involved people over 50, with reported losses above $302 million.
That pattern matches recent fraud cases where scammers pushed victims away from bank wires after compliance checks triggered suspicion. Some schemes now use cash couriers to collect money from investment victims before converting or laundering funds through other channels.
The same social-engineering structure appeared in the recent ZachXBT Changelly freeze case, where a user seeking help with frozen BTC was traced by the investigator to a suspected theft cluster targeting Americans, including elderly victims. Federal cases have also moved through the courts, including the fake Google and Trezor support case tied to about $13 million in stolen crypto.
The FBI’s public posture has shifted from consumer alerts toward disruption, asset freezes and international coordination. Earlier this month, Patel highlighted 63 arrests, millions of dollars in frozen cryptocurrency and the removal of more than one million scam-related online accounts after cooperation with Meta.
Crypto fraud remains difficult to stop because the victim contact often happens offchain, while the money moves quickly through wallets, kiosks, exchanges and cross-border networks. Patel’s statement puts the bureau’s crypto-fraud work in more direct terms: victim notifications, frozen assets, arrests, platform takedowns and public pressure on the networks still targeting Americans.
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